Everyone is talking about this Occupy Wall Street movement. I think it’s great that people are speaking up, but the reality of our (the general population) part in all of this is making me sad.
Corporations would not have so much power if they weren’t making so much money. They wouldn’t be making so much money if we didn’t give them our money. How many people will go to a protest and stop at McDonald’s on the way home? How many are wearing clothes made in sweatshops? I really hope these protests will bring about some change, but I think we need to make some little changes in our everyday lives.
I plan to make a significant effort to support local and small businesses. I’ve always been into buying local food and buying handmade things, but I have to admit that I still support a lot of big corporations with my dollars. I still buy fast food at times. I still meet with friends at Starbucks. I still buy groceries from the big supermarkets and don’t think about where they came from. I still order books from Amazon, because it’s just the easiest way to find things. I still buy most of my camera equipment from the big camera stores in New York City instead of checking the local stores and making special orders if they’re out of stock. I still have online shopping sprees at big stores.
I used to be a lot more careful about this stuff, but life got busy. If we want the world to change, we need to change. And that takes effort.
Things everyone can do to make the world a better place:
- Support small businesses, locally and through online shopping.
- Support the arts and great causes by donating to interesting projects at places like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo.
- Help small businesses in poor countries by giving a micro loan at Kiva.
- Buy fruit and vegetables (and meat and dairy) from small farms at the farms themselves, locally-owned stores, farmers’ markets, CSAs, or locally-focused and socially-conscious delivery service Spud.
- Cook more rather than buying pre-packaged food. Eat out at local restaurants.
- Buy clothing and accessories (and beauty products, household items, gifts, etc.) from independent designers and creators. A great place to start is Etsy and Miss Malaprop’s blog.
- Buy clothing and household items used from charity-run stores like the Salvation Army and Goodwill. Donate your old clothes to them or get crafty and refashion your wardrobe
- Make the effort to find everyday things at locally-owned stores rather than mega-stores like Walmart and Best Buy.
- Reduce your own dependence on oil by driving less. Walk, ride a bike, or take public transit.
- Go see a concert by an indie musician you’ve never heard of. Go see a play by a small theatre company. Go to an art show. Check out local film and theatre festivals.
- Tell your friends about the small businesses, crafters, and independent artists that you love.
Doing more of the above will help small businesses grow and create better jobs that employees actually care about. It will help self-employed people, like myself and many of the most passionate and hard-working people I know, and artists make a living doing what they love. It will let the consumer not only buy what they want (and often better quality), but also build a world that’s better for all of us.
I know these ideas aren’t really anything new, but I bet most of us haven’t put them into practice as much as we’d like to because, well, it’s not convenient. Our lives are hectic; we work too much and sleep too little. But if we can’t even change ourselves, then how can we expect the world to change?
Please add your ideas in the comments section.